Gogi Grant
Encyclopedia
Gogi Grant is an American
popular
singer.
. At the age of 12, she moved to Los Angeles, California
, where she attended Venice High School. In California
, she won a teenage singing contest and appeared on television
talent shows. In 1952 she began to record, using first the name "Audrey Brown" and later "Audrey Grant." She was given the name "Gogi" by Dave Kapp, the head of Artists and Repertory
at RCA Records
, who liked to patronize a restaurant called "Gogi's LaRue."
In 1955 she signed with a small record company, Era Records
, and had her first top ten hit with "Suddenly There's a Valley
." The next year
, she had an even bigger hit, reaching Billboard
's #1 position, with "The Wayward Wind
" and holding there for a then record eight weeks. The song sold over one million copies in the United States
alone, and peaked at #9 in the UK Singles Chart
. She was voted the most popular female vocalist by Billboard magazine. This single returned to the Billboard Hot 100
in 1961.
In 1957, she supplied the vocals for Ann Blyth
's portrayal of Helen Morgan
in the biographical film
, The Helen Morgan Story
. The soundtrack
occasioned her return to RCA (the soundtrack album climbed to #25 in the Billboard album chart), where she had a minor hit the following year with "Strange Are the Ways of Love." Moreover, she was signed to star in The Big Beat in the spring of 1957. The film, which featured musical performances by the Cal Tjader
Quintet, George Shearing
, and the Del Vikings, was produced and directed by William Cowan and released in February 1958.
In 1958, Grant was one of the three solo singers featured in the first stereo LP of the classic musical Show Boat
. The other solo singers were Howard Keel
, who had appeared in the 1951 film version of the show
, and Anne Jeffreys
.
Although she made album
s and appeared on television
into the 1960s, her popularity declined and she initially retired from singing in 1967 after a final U.S. chart single, "The Sea" (top 20 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart). Nevertheless, an album of hers was released in UK
some 20 years later
. In 2004, aged 80, she made an appearance on the PBS 1950s pop music special Magic Moments and sang "The Wayward Wind."
Grant was still performing as of 2010; she headlined with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies
in Palm Springs, California. One of her more notable appearances of more recent years was with the Follies was on December 31, 2006.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
popular
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
singer.
Life and career
Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. At the age of 12, she moved to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, where she attended Venice High School. In California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, she won a teenage singing contest and appeared on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
talent shows. In 1952 she began to record, using first the name "Audrey Brown" and later "Audrey Grant." She was given the name "Gogi" by Dave Kapp, the head of Artists and Repertory
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
at RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, who liked to patronize a restaurant called "Gogi's LaRue."
In 1955 she signed with a small record company, Era Records
Era Records
Era Records was an independent American record label located in Hollywood, California. It was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in 1955 as a pop, country and western and jazz label. Era had a #1 hit in 1956 with Gogi Grant's "The Wayward Wind", written by Newman. In 1959 Bedell sold his...
, and had her first top ten hit with "Suddenly There's a Valley
Suddenly There's a Valley
"Suddenly There's a Valley" is a popular song written by Chuck Meyer and Biff Jones and published in 1955.The song was a major hit for Gogi Grant in 1955. Her recording was issued by Era Records as catalog number 1003 and reached Billboard magazine's Top 10...
." The next year
1956 in music
-Events:*January 26 – Buddy Holly's first recording sessions for Decca Records take place in Nashville, Tennessee*Roy Orbison signs with Sun Records*January 27 – Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" / "I Was the One" is released...
, she had an even bigger hit, reaching Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's #1 position, with "The Wayward Wind
The Wayward Wind
"The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman.In 1956 versions were recorded by Gogi Grant, Tex Ritter, and Jimmy Young, of which Grant's was the biggest seller in the United States and Ritter's in the United Kingdom...
" and holding there for a then record eight weeks. The song sold over one million copies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
alone, and peaked at #9 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. She was voted the most popular female vocalist by Billboard magazine. This single returned to the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in 1961.
In 1957, she supplied the vocals for Ann Blyth
Ann Blyth
Ann Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
's portrayal of Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan
Helen Morgan was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s...
in the biographical film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, The Helen Morgan Story
The Helen Morgan Story
The Helen Morgan Story is a 1957 American biographical film directed by Michael Curtiz starring Ann Blyth and Paul Newman.The screenplay by Oscar Saul, Dean Riesner, Stephen Longstreet, and Nelson Gidding is based on the life and career of torch singer/actress Helen Morgan, with fictional touches...
. The soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
occasioned her return to RCA (the soundtrack album climbed to #25 in the Billboard album chart), where she had a minor hit the following year with "Strange Are the Ways of Love." Moreover, she was signed to star in The Big Beat in the spring of 1957. The film, which featured musical performances by the Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...
Quintet, George Shearing
George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
, and the Del Vikings, was produced and directed by William Cowan and released in February 1958.
In 1958, Grant was one of the three solo singers featured in the first stereo LP of the classic musical Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
. The other solo singers were Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
, who had appeared in the 1951 film version of the show
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
, and Anne Jeffreys
Anne Jeffreys
Anne Jeffreys is an American actress and singer.- Career :Born Anne Carmichael in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Jeffreys entered the entertainment field at a young age; her initial training was in voice , but she decided as a teenager to sign with the John Robert Powers agency as a junior model.Her...
.
Although she made album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s and appeared on television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
into the 1960s, her popularity declined and she initially retired from singing in 1967 after a final U.S. chart single, "The Sea" (top 20 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart). Nevertheless, an album of hers was released in UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
some 20 years later
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
. In 2004, aged 80, she made an appearance on the PBS 1950s pop music special Magic Moments and sang "The Wayward Wind."
Grant was still performing as of 2010; she headlined with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies
The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies
The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies was the subject of a short documentary titled "Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies" which was nominated for an Academy Award...
in Palm Springs, California. One of her more notable appearances of more recent years was with the Follies was on December 31, 2006.
Hit recordings
- "Suddenly There's a ValleySuddenly There's a Valley"Suddenly There's a Valley" is a popular song written by Chuck Meyer and Biff Jones and published in 1955.The song was a major hit for Gogi Grant in 1955. Her recording was issued by Era Records as catalog number 1003 and reached Billboard magazine's Top 10...
" (1955) - "The Wayward WindThe Wayward Wind"The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman.In 1956 versions were recorded by Gogi Grant, Tex Ritter, and Jimmy Young, of which Grant's was the biggest seller in the United States and Ritter's in the United Kingdom...
" (1956) - "When The Tide Is High" (1956)
- "Who Are We" (1956)
- "You're In Love" (1956)
- "Strange Are the Ways of Love" (1958)
Album discography
- Suddenly There's Gogi Grant (Era, 1957)
- The Helen Morgan Story (original soundtrack - RCA Victor, 1958)
- Welcome To My Heart (RCA Victor, 1958)
- Torch Time (RCA Victor, 1958)
- Show Boat & Howard KeelHoward KeelHarold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
, Anne JeffreysAnne JeffreysAnne Jeffreys is an American actress and singer.- Career :Born Anne Carmichael in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Jeffreys entered the entertainment field at a young age; her initial training was in voice , but she decided as a teenager to sign with the John Robert Powers agency as a junior model.Her...
(RCA Victor, 1958) - Kiss me Kate & Howard KeelHoward KeelHarold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
, Anne JeffreysAnne JeffreysAnne Jeffreys is an American actress and singer.- Career :Born Anne Carmichael in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Jeffreys entered the entertainment field at a young age; her initial training was in voice , but she decided as a teenager to sign with the John Robert Powers agency as a junior model.Her...
(RCA Victor 1959) - Granted it's Gogi (RCA Victor, 1959)
- If You Want To Get To Heaven, Shout (Liberty, 1960)
- City Girl In The Country (CRC-Charter, 1964)
External links
- Gogi Grant bio on The Iceberg site
- Gogi Grant bio on Tom Simon site
- Gogi Grant Homepage Gogi Grant site